''Tanglewood Tales for Boys and Girls'' is an 1853 book by American author

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...

, a sequel to '' A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys''. It is a re-writing of well-known Greek myths in a volume for children.

Overview

The book includes the myths of: * Theseus and the Minotaur (Chapter: "The Minotaur") *

Antaeus Antaeus (; , derived from ), known to the Berbers as Anti, was a figure in Traditional Berber religion, Berber and Greek mythology. He was famed for his defeat by Heracles as part of the Labours of Hercules. Family In Greek sources, he was ...

and the Pygmies (Chapter: "The Pygmies") * Dragon's Teeth (Chapter: "The Dragon's Teeth") * Circe's Palace (Chapter: "Circe's Palace") *

Proserpina Proserpina ( ; ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whos ...

, Ceres,

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

, and the

Pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punica, Punicoideae, that grows between tall. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, it is thought to have o ...

Seed (Chapter: "The Pomegranate Seed") *

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...

and the Golden Fleece (Chapter: "The Golden Fleece") Hawthorne wrote an

introduction Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...

, titled "The Wayside", referring to The Wayside in Concord, where he lived from 1852 until his death. In the introduction, Hawthorne writes about a visit from his young friend Eustace Bright, who requested a sequel to ''A Wonder-Book'', which impelled him to write the ''Tales''. Although Hawthorne informs us in the introduction that these stories were also later retold by Cousin Eustace, the frame stories of ''A Wonder-Book'' have been abandoned. Hawthorne wrote the first book while renting a small cottage in the

Berkshires The Berkshires () are highlands located in western Massachusetts and northwestern Connecticut in the United States. Generally, "Berkshires" may refer to the range of hills in Massachusetts that lie between the Housatonic and Connecticut River ...

, a vacation area for industrialists during the

Gilded Age In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

. The owner of the cottage, a railroad baron, renamed the cottage "Tanglewood" in honor of the book written there. Later, a nearby mansion was renamed

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...

, where outdoor classical concerts were held, which became a Berkshire summer tradition. Ironically, Hawthorne hated living in the Berkshires. The

neighborhood of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

was named after the book. The book was a favorite of Mary Catherine Farrington, the daughter of Tanglewood developer William Farrington.Smith, Brenda Beust.
Just who was...Westheimer/A guide to the people whose names grace the street signs of Houston
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

''. Sunday March 23, 1986. Lifestyle 1. Retrieved on October 14, 2012. It reportedly inspired the name of the thickly wooded Tanglewood Island in the state of Washington.

References

External links

''Tanglewood Tales''
available at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...

. *
''Tanglewood Tales''
scanned 1853 edition, illustrated, available at

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.
''Tanglewood Tales''
scanned 1921 edition, illustrated by Virginia Frances Sterrett, available at

Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons, or simply Commons, is a wiki-based Digital library, media repository of Open content, free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used ...

. * 1853 short story collections 1850s children's books American children's books Children's short story collections Short story collections by Nathaniel Hawthorne Children's books based on classical mythology {{greek-myth-book-stub